From NEHJ: The road well traveled

For the region’s prep school hockey teams, the competition
begins long before the first game of the season is
played.

Prep schools such as Canterbury
School in New Milford, Conn., offer student-athletes a unique
environment to prepare for college. (Photo: Canterbury School)

Attracting prospective student-athletes can be a battle on
several fronts. From a hockey standpoint, many higher-end players
are lured toward junior hockey, which they believe may set them up
better for college and professional success.

From a financial standpoint, high tuition and unfamiliarity with
the financial-aid process could keep many potential applicants
staying with public schools. And, once a player decides the prep
route is the way to go, there are dozens of options to consider,
nearly 60 schools in New England alone.

But those who choose the prep school route will discover that
the combination of athletics and academics is unmatched by what
they could find anywhere else.

“The reason people choose the prep school route is that
their exposure is so much more significant,” said Sean
Brennan, the head of school at Vermont Academy. “You’re
drawing kids from around the country and outside the
country.”

As summer winds down, it’s an ideal time for
student-athletes looking at a fall 2013 matriculation to begin the
prep school evaluation process, if they haven’t already. That
should begin with research but also include visits to prospective
schools and contacting coaches.

There is no shortage of regional prep school options in the
Northeast for hockey players. Sixty-two schools play hockey in the
New England Preparatory School Ice Hockey Association and are
located in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine,
Vermont, Rhode Island and eastern New York. The Northeast has the
heaviest concentration of prep schools in the country.

Choosing the right school is a process that requires both
research and firsthand observation. Basic information — such
as location, enrollment, class sizes and extracurricular options
— can be found through schools’ websites. Other factors
— financial aid, campus lifestyle and percentage of graduates
going on to a certain level of education — require a little
more digging.

Once a list of prospective schools has been narrowed down
— between four and six is ideal, say many school admissions
officials — visits should be scheduled to give
student-athletes, and their families, a look at exactly what each
school has to offer.

“You want to see all the facilities — athletics,
academics and fine arts,” said Keith Holton, director of
admissions at the Canterbury School in New Milford, Conn.
“You want to see all the things that you’d have that
you don’t have now.”

Like colleges, different prep schools offer different
environments and different amenities. Some have smaller
enrollments. Some have a religious slant. Prospective students
should decide what’s important to them and then go about
researching the options. August is the perfect time to start
planning fall visits.

“They really need to be getting their information at that
time, looking at schools and then focusing on five or six that they
want to visit in the fall,” Brennan said. “You really
want to see a school when it’s in session.”

Sending a child to prep school is a big investment for families
— emotionally if they’re leaving home for the first
time, but especially financially.

One year’s tuition at several New England schools has now
eclipsed the $40,000 mark for boarding students, making them more
expensive than many respected colleges. Most others are above
$30,000.

Timothy Weaver, director of admissions at the Northwood School
in Lake Placid, N.Y., said about 50 percent of the students at his
school receive financial aid of some sort. It’s an aspect of
the admissions process that requires attention to detail and having
paperwork up to date, and is treated with different degrees of
emphasis, depending on the family.

“Sometimes it’s the first words out of a
family’s mouth, and sometimes it comes up later,” he
said. “It’s an ongoing process throughout.”

“The biggest advice I have to families is to pay attention
to the financial aid and administrative deadlines,” said
Molly Gabarro, the girls hockey coach and associate director of
admissions and financial aid at Vermont Academy. “The earlier
you can get these in, the better.”

So, what are student-athletes getting with these hefty
price-tags?

For one, visibility. The presence of college scouts is much
greater at prep school games, where often a majority of the players
on the ice are bound for college hockey, than at high school games,
where maybe just one or two players are good enough.

Many prep schools boast athletic facilities as modern as those
found on college campuses. This includes weight-training facilities
and even rinks, where daily practices are not subject to the
ice-available 5 a.m. or 8 p.m. time slots that plague many public
schools, or the commutes that eat into practice time.

They’re also living in an environment similar to what
they’ll see at college, where they’ll be the ones
responsible for managing their time. That’s something
colleges recognize.

“That’s one of the biggest things that prep schools
offer, that time management and structure,” said Derek Cunha
(New Bedford, Mass.), the boys’ hockey coach and assistant
director of admissions at Williston-Northampton School in
Easthampton, Mass. “When players go on to college, they know
to get up on their own, go to practice, go to classes, lift
(weights) in the evening, get their work done, and then repeat the
whole cycle the next day.”

The hockey factor

Every March, college and pro scouts pack the Icenter in Salem,
N.H., to watch players on the region’s top teams play for New
England championships.

Prep schools such as the Tilton School
provide college-like experiences -- on and off the ice -- for its
players. (Photo: Tilton School)

The best players — recent second-round NHL draft picks
such as Cristoval “Boo” Nieves of the Kent School and
Brian Hart (Cumberland, Maine) of Phillips Exeter Academy —
find themselves on a pro track, but the great majority will peak
with college hockey, where they can continue competing but also lay
the groundwork for a successful career outside of hockey.

“We certainly have our standouts who are NHL draft picks
every year,” said Cunha, who saw a former Williston player,
left winger Brendan Woods, get selected in the fifth round by the
Carolina Hurricanes in June, and could see Ross Olsson (Billerica,
Mass.) get drafted in a high round next year. “But a good
percentage of our kids are going onto programs at lower-level
Division 1 schools or good Division 3 schools.”

What prep schools also offer is a chance to branch out and
explore other interests, a way to get student-athletes out of their
comfort zones and try things they may have never considered
trying.

Brennan tells the story of two girls hockey players at his
school who had the time of their lives taking the stage for a
school production of “Crazy For You.” Every player on
the team plays other sports, too, which is something many college
coaches endorse.

“At the end of the day, I want an athlete,” Gabarro
said. “I hear from a lot of college coaches, and they
don’t want specialization. (Playing multiple sports) shows
that they’re competitive and athletic.”

At Canterbury School, like many other prep schools, academics
are geared toward preparing students for college. Even a stellar
hockey player won’t be accepted by the admissions department
if his academic background doesn’t meet standards.

“It doesn’t allow us to take risks with kids,”
Holton said. “We want to make sure the kids have a chance at
success. (Coaches) are trying to get the best student-athletes they
can get in the door, but they don’t want students who
can’t do the work.”

That’s not to say hockey is secondary. Student-athletes
can research different schools and see where their graduates are
going on to play. Coaches should be contacted before a campus visit
is made.

“So they’re not just showing up at the door,”
Cunha said.

Like in most aspects of life, student-athletes will get out of a
school, and a hockey program, what they put into it. They will be
tested, athletically and academically, and colleges understand
that.

“We think we should set the bar high,” Brennan said,
“but we also know not everyone’s going to get it on the
first try. If you don’t make the hockey team, or don’t
make the first line, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure.
It’s what you do afterward to get to that goal.”

This article originally appeared in the August 2012 issue of
New England Hockey Journal.